St. Landry democrat., 1887-04-23
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From our Regular Correspondent.

ton many OF the musty regulations
with which Republican official life had
hedged itself in have been overhauled
and where there was no good reason
for their existence, have been discon'
tinued. They have not all been rele'
gated to the past however. The rule
which closes the Government Depart
o'clock is still in force, much to the in
convenience OF strangers.
1t is u serious disappointment to yisi-
tors here only for Il few days, and try
ing to get as much sightseeing as pos
Sible into that time, to be shut out at
so early an hour from SO many places OF
interest. They feel, and have a right
to feel that in a peoples Government
the peoples convenience ought to be
considered little, and that they should
be given what pleasure they can get
from the corridors, elevators, museums,
and curiosity rooms of the buildings as
long as they are open for business.
Speaking of sightseeing in the De-
partments, often think how monoto-
nous must be the duties of those Off
cials who are delegated to exhibit the
objects of interest to visitors. But
they show wonderful freshness about
the time-worn business. There is
nothing peIfunctory about the man
who exhibits the rogues' gallery, or the
piles Of counterfeit money, or the Sc
cret service room, and only Il person
who has Il party OF friends to escort
there about once year can realize
how many times he has told the same
things over, yet, always with an unfail-
ing brightness of expression and
auaintness OF humor.
Senator Cockrel's investigating COM
mittee (the Senate Select Committee
which is now probing the methods of
work in the different Executive De-
partments of the Government) has I'M
dertaken gigantic task, but it will
make an elaborate report of its labors
some time in the future. The Missouri
Senator is a very conscientious, pains
taking man, he is giving the public
offices much annoyance and no little
uneaslness. He wants to know won
know and the number of things the
public don't know and that Senator
Cockrell will have a great deal of
trouble in finding out, is astonishing.
The complaint is often made now
that there is too much red tape,' and
that the employees of the Government
have very few hours to work, and very
little work within those hours as COM
pared with persons employed in similar
capacities by private business concerns.
But such annoying features are insepa-
rably connected with the theory of
Government work. 1t must be put
through by processes as nearly me-
chanical as possible, so that the death
or removal of clerk may not throw
an entire Office out of gear, and so that
the dishonesty of any one employe will
be discovered when the work on which
he practised it is turned over to another
for the next stage Of its progress.
All this involves the reduction of
business to infinite detail and it's distri-
button among a multitude of people.
Ii Senator Cockrell and his committee
can find a way of simplifying these
processes their discovery will be warm
~ welcomed. The results of their la
bOr cannot fail to be of value and will
certainly be of interest, abounding in
information which, to the general pub
lie, is now in the nature of q sealed |
book.
The committee is not expected to
pass judgment up on the civil service
law, but incidentally the operations
of the law will come under the pur-
view of the committee, and the latter
will be expected to answer such ques-
tions as the following. Is the Govern
ment any better served-the public
business more rapidly expedited, the
morals or the methods Of the several
in auy respect the
gainer-now that what is called the
Espoils system has been done away
With7
1t is matter of no small importance.
The neople are told that the civil SER
vice law, in it's classified application, is
working wonders of reform, but they
have only hearsay evidence to that
effect They are assured that it is do
ing away with great deal of favorit
ism, relieving the appointing power of
much embarrassment, purifying the
channels of patronage, and elevating
the standard of clerical merit. They
are interested in knowing whether
civil service reform is really all that it's
friends claim, or whether it is a sham
and humbng as it's enemies insist.
senator Cockrell's committee, with SO
rood an opportunity could find out all